--- title: "WhatsApp phone number verification" description: "The phone number itself gets verified during the connection — a code by SMS or call, done in a minute." canonical_url: https://chatfuel.com/docs/for-agencies/whatsapp-phone-number-verification markdown_url: https://chatfuel.com/docs/for-agencies/whatsapp-phone-number-verification.md last_updated: 2026-08-12 lang: en site: https://chatfuel.com/docs llms_txt: https://chatfuel.com/llms.txt --- # WhatsApp phone number verification The phone number itself gets verified during the connection — a code by SMS or call, done in a minute. The phone number itself gets verified during [the connection](https://chatfuel.com/docs/for-agencies/connect-the-clients-whatsapp) — a code by SMS or call, done in a minute. What this page is really about is the verification that agencies actually lose launches to: **Meta business verification** of the client's [business portfolio](https://chatfuel.com/docs/for-agencies/whatsapp-business-api-explained). It's a document review, it caps the channel until it's done, and it needs paperwork only the client can provide — which is exactly why it belongs in your onboarding checklist, not in your launch-week panic. ## Why it decides your ad budget [#why-it-decides-your-ad-budget] An unverified business is throttled at **250 unique conversations per day** — and unverified accounts get [banned](https://chatfuel.com/docs/for-agencies/common-meta-access-errors) more easily, with some unable to send messages at all. Verified, the limit scales automatically with quality and volume: 1K → 10K → 100K → unlimited customers per day. Now do the media math: a click-to-WhatsApp campaign that produces 300 conversations a day hits the unverified cap before lunch. The ads keep spending; the bot stops answering new people. **Verification is a launch prerequisite, not an optimization** — start it the day the number is connected. > **Note:** this is not the green checkmark. Business verification unlocks messaging limits. It does not add any badge to the client's profile — the [green checkmark](https://chatfuel.com/docs/whatsapp/how-to-get-a-green-badge) (Official Business Account) is a separate program that *requires* business verification but isn't granted by it. Don't promise the client a checkmark out of this process. ## Submitting verification from Chatfuel [#submitting-verification-from-chatfuel] Chatfuel is a Meta Solution Partner and submits the verification for you, from inside the client's company: 1. **Open the verification flow.** In the client's company, go to **Settings → WhatsApp** and click **Verify** under "Verify your Meta business portfolio". 2. **Upload the client's documents.** Accepted types: a government tax document, a business registration or license, articles of incorporation, or a business bank statement. More is better — but only from this list; a passport or driver's license gets rejected, and random extra files don't help. 3. **Check the legal name — letter by letter.** The legal business name on the documents must match the **Legal business name** in the client's [Meta Business Info settings](https://business.facebook.com/latest/settings/business_info) *exactly*. A mismatch is the single most common rejection. Check it before submitting, not after the rejection email. 4. **Leave a reachable WhatsApp number.** Meta contacts this number only if something's wrong with the submission. Make it one your team actually monitors — an unreachable number means a silent failure. 5. **Track the status.** Progress shows right in the WhatsApp tab: **Documents saved → Pending review → Verified**. The typical round-trip is around 2–3 hours. **The agency habit that makes this painless:** collect the client's registration document and confirm their legal business name during onboarding, in the same pass as [access collection](https://chatfuel.com/docs/for-agencies/what-to-ask-the-client-for). Chasing a busy client for their articles of incorporation two days before launch is the avoidable version of this problem. ## When verification is rejected [#when-verification-is-rejected] | What happened | The fix | Whose move | | --------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | | **Legal name doesn't match** | Update the name in [Business Info](https://business.facebook.com/latest/settings/business_info) to match the document exactly — or upload a document matching the name already set. Then resubmit. | Client (you guide) | | **Document not accepted** | Personal IDs don't count. Resubmit with a document from the accepted list above. | Client | | **"Not yet eligible for verification"** | The client's Business Info is incomplete. Fill in **every** field, including optional ones, then resubmit. | Client (you guide) | | **A verification request is already pending** | Someone submitted before. Meta enforces a 3-day wait between requests — Chatfuel retries automatically; no action needed. | Nobody — wait | | **Submission limit reached** | Chatfuel can submit up to three times on the client's behalf. After that, submit directly in [Meta Security Center](https://business.facebook.com/latest/settings/security_center). | You, with client's access | | **Business account disabled by Meta** | Verification can't be submitted at all. The client appeals in [Meta Support Home](https://business.facebook.com/business-support-home). | Client | If the status is stuck with everything filled in correctly, or the review drags far past the usual window, contact Chatfuel support with a screenshot of the client's Business Info page — escalation to Meta happens from there.